Phædrus – a character familiar to readers of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance – is sailing down the Hudson River when he meets Lila Blewitt, an unapologetically sexual, psychologically unstable woman whom a mutual friend warns him against. But Phædrus is drawn to her physically, and interested in her intellectually, finding her “a culture of one” in whom he discerns an unexpected “Quality”. Sailing with him to Manhattan, where her mental state deteriorates further, Lila prompts Phædrus to explore conflicts of values, such as those between Native Americans and Europeans, or between the insane and the normal.
